Systems and methods for dynamic access to program features

ABSTRACT

The multimedia client-server system provides a multimedia client program with a set of features and a server system that creates feature access information that determines which features are to be made available to a particular user. The server system may send the feature access information to the user such that the information is accessible to the multimedia client program. The multimedia client program may dynamically control the user&#39;s access to the program&#39;s feature set by using the feature access information to validate and verify the user. In addition, the feature access information may be accessible to the server system, such that the server system may periodically update the feature access information, such as, for example, when the user accesses the server system to download multimedia content.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The systems and methods of the present invention relate generally to thecontrol of program features in multimedia client-server systems. Inparticular, the systems and methods relate to the dynamic access offeatures in multimedia client programs.

BACKGROUND

To control user access to client software programs, it is common forsoftware vendors to require that users obtain licenses before using theclient software programs. To obtain a license, the user typicallysubmits information to the software vendor via the software vendor'sserver. This information may include the user's email address, contactinformation, and payment information. The software vendor then storesthe user's information in a database typically located on its server.The user must then maintain contact with the software vendor's server inorder to run the client software program.

A common problem with conventional approaches is that the userinformation that designates whether the user should have access to theclient software program is typically stored in a database on the serveras noted above. In order for the user to access the client softwareprogram, the client software program sends a request to the server toverify whether the user should be allowed access to the program. Thus,every time the user attempts to access the client software program, theclient software program must send a request to the server and wait for aresponse. As the number of users increases, the server becomes inundatedwith database requests causing significant delay and decreasedperformance.

In other conventional approaches, requests to the server database islimited by storing user information in a license file which is stored onthe user's computer. In such approaches, the license file is cloakedwith multiple levels of security protection to avoid any compromising ofthe license file. While such techniques limit access to the file, theyalso require the client software program to go through extensive levelsof security to even read the file thereby delaying user access to theclient software program.

An additional problem with the use of license files it that such filestypically include a pre-determined expiration time. Thus, when thelicense file expires, the user is required to re-initiate contact withthe server to “renew” his or her rights and to obtain a new licensefile.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one aspect of the invention, the multimedia client-server systemprovides a multimedia client program with a set of features and a serversystem that creates feature access information that determines whichfeatures are to be made available to a particular user. The serversystem may advantageously send the feature access information to theuser. The multimedia client program may then dynamically control theuser's access to the program's feature set by using the feature accessinformation to validate the user. In addition, the feature accessinformation may advantageously be accessible to the server system, suchthat the server system may periodically update the feature accessinformation, such as, for example, when the user accesses the serversystem to download multimedia content.

For purposes of summarizing the invention, certain aspects, advantages,and novel features of the invention are described herein. It is to beunderstood that not necessarily all such advantages may be achieved inaccordance with any particular embodiment of the invention. Thus, forexample, those skilled in the art will recognize that the invention maybe embodied or carried out in a manner that achieves one advantage orgroup of advantages as taught herein without necessarily achieving otheradvantages as may be taught or suggested herein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a sample interface of a multimedia client programwith dynamically accessible features.

FIG. 2 illustrates a high-level block diagram of one embodiment of amultimedia client-server system that illustrates a sample flow of dataamong the components.

FIG. 3 illustrates a high-level block diagram of one embodiment of auser computer.

FIG. 4 illustrates a high-level block diagram of one embodiment of aserver.

FIG. 5 illustrates a flowchart of one embodiment of a process forsetting feature access.

FIG. 6 illustrates a flowchart of one embodiment of a process forvalidating user access.

FIG. 7 illustrates a flowchart of one embodiment of a process forreauthorizing feature access.

FIG. 8 illustrates a sample set of feature access information.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Systems and methods which represent embodiments and example applicationsof the invention will now be described with reference to the drawings.Variations to the systems and methods which represent other embodimentswill also be described. In one disclosed embodiment, the system andmethod are used to provide dynamic access to client features of amultimedia client program; however, the present invention is not limitedby the type of client program used. Other types of client programs maybe used such as, for example, a word processor that has additionalfeatures such as fax or letter templates that the user may receive aspart of a subscription, or a tax preparation program where electronicfiling is a feature the user may receive as part of a subscription. Thefigures and descriptions, however, relate to embodiments of theinvention wherein the client program is a multimedia program. It is alsorecognized that in other embodiments, the systems and methods may beimplemented as a single module and/or implemented in conjunction with avariety of other modules and the like.

The features of the systems and methods will now be described withreference to the drawings summarized above. Throughout the drawings,reference numbers are re-used to indicate correspondence betweenreferenced elements. In addition, the first digit of each referencenumber indicates the figure in which the element first appears. Thedrawings, associated descriptions, and specific implementation areprovided to illustrate embodiments of the invention, and not to limitthe scope of the invention. The scope of the invention is defined by theappended claims.

I. Overview

The client-server system may advantageously provide a client programwith a set of features and a server system that creates feature accessinformation that determines which features are to be made available to aparticular user. The server system may advantageously send the featureaccess information to the user such that the information is accessibleto the client program. The client program may dynamically control theuser's access to the program's feature set by using the feature accessinformation to validate the user. In addition, the feature accessinformation may be advantageously accessible to the server system, suchthat the server system may periodically update the feature accessinformation, such as, for example, when the user accesses the serversystem to download multimedia content or view the server's web site.

In one embodiment, the feature access information is stored in cookieson the user's computer. Cookies are typically used to store clientinformation and to identify the user to a server. Information on howcookies are sent to the user's computer and format in which they arestored are discussed in the specification for Cookies located athttp://www.netscape.com/newsref/std/cookie_spec.html, which is herebyincorporated by reference in its entirety. In this embodiment, however,the cookies are used to store client account information from the serveron the client side. Thus, whenever the user runs the client program orattempts to access a feature, the client has a copy of the relevantclient account information and does not have to always contact theserver. Furthermore, whenever the user accesses the server, such as, forexample, to download media content, the cookies are automaticallytransmitted to the server permitting the server to update the clientaccount information and to return the updated information to the client.Thus, the server is able to transparently change feature access withoutrequiring interaction by the user. Alternatively, the user may initiatean update of the user's cookies by changing membership status or bylogging onto the server to update the user's account.

One benefit of this embodiment is that requests to the server's databaseare reduced. User account information is stored locally on the user'scomputer and periodically updated by the server.

An additional benefit of this embodiment is that the client program mayadvantageously determine feature access dynamically using the featureaccess information stored on the client side. If the feature accessinformation changes or if a feature has expired, the client program mayregulate the user's access to the feature accordingly.

A further benefit of this embodiment is that the feature accessinformation may not be “hard coded” into the client program enabling theserver to enable and disable features at any time. Thus, the server mayperiodically update the feature access information depending on factorssuch as, for example, the user's account status, the subscription orlicense package selected by the user, or program promotion.

II. Sample Client Program and Sample Features

As noted above, in some embodiments, the client program is a multimediaclient program, though it is recognized that a variety of clientprograms may be used. The multimedia client program may be any programand/or application that may be used to record and play audio files in avariety of formats, to record and view video and image data, to retrieveand send web documents, and so forth. For example, the multimedia clientprogram may be an audio player, a video player, a web browser, a flashmedia player, a streaming video player, a streaming audio player, a gameapplication, and so forth as well as any combination of the above.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example interface 110 of a multimedia clientprogram. The example multimedia client program interface 110 includes avariety of features that may be enabled for use by the user. The samplemultimedia client program interface 110 includes features, such asCrossfade, Record Microphone/Line in, Print CD Jewel Case, Print MusicLibrary/Playlists, Manual Transcoding, Graphic Equalizer, VideoControls, Theater Mode, Toolbar Mode, Hi Bit Rate MP3 Encoding, and soforth. While these features are not displayed on the sample interface110, they may be accessed via the menus and standard interface objectsof the multimedia client program.

The Crossfade feature may permit a user to fade one audio clip into thenext when playing a series of clips thereby creating a more professionalsound. When turned on, the volume of each audio clip will start to fadeout as it nears its end, and the volume of the next clip will fade in asit starts. The two clips can also overlap so that the next clip will befading in even as the previous clip is fading out.

The Record Microphone/Line In feature may permit a user to record analogsignals from various sources, such as the “Line In” connector on theuser computer's sound card or the microphone connected to the user'scomputer.

The Print CD Jewel Case feature may permit a user to print CD jewelcases with graphics and song lists that correspond to the user's musiccollection.

The Print Music Library/Playlists feature may permit a user to printplaylists, tracks, and albums from the user's media library to help theuser keep track of the user's music collection.

The Manual Transcoding feature may permit a user to change the fileformat of the user's songs. For example, the user may change an audiofile from MP3 format to RealAudio format.

The Graphic Equalizer feature may permit a user to customize thefrequency response of the audio output. Slider controls are provided toadjust the signal gain for a specific frequency range and to controloverall output volume and special effects such as Reverb.

The Video Controls feature may permit a user to adjust video clips or aclip's components without having to change the look of the user'sdesktop. Video clip components may include contrast, which alters thedegree of difference between the light and dark shades in the clip,brightness, which adjusts how light the picture appears overall, colorlevel, which adjusts the color saturation of the picture, that is thebrilliance of the colors, tint, which adjust the overall hue of thepicture, and sharpness, which adjusts the clarity of the edges in thepicture.

The Theater Mode feature may permit the user to view and listen to amultimedia clip in theater mode eliminating clutter on the screen andturning the user's computer screen into a desktop theater.

The Toolbar Mode feature may permit the user to adjust the playercontrols. The player controls are displayed as a Toolbar at the bottomof the user's computer screen.

The Hi Bit Rate MP3 Encoding feature may permit the user to create highbit rate MP3 files. Thus, when media files are converted, the bestcomparable bit rate is used such that the quality of the new files arevery close to the quality of the original files.

It is recognized that FIG. 1 illustrates one sample multimedia clientprogram interface 110 and that other multimedia client programs orinterfaces may be used. Furthermore, the multimedia client programinterface 110 may include a variety of features, and those featuresdiscussed above are meant only to illustrate sample features. In otherembodiments, the multimedia client program interface 100 may provideaccess to features, such as, for example, fast forward, rewind, slowspeed, fast speed, 3-D graphics, color, and so forth.

It is also recognized that feature information includes a wide varietyof information including information about the features of the clientprogram as well as information about the user, the user's activity withrespect to the client program, and the user's subscription and/orpermission information regarding the client program. The featureinformation may also include information about the user computer and theservers. In addition, the feature information may include informationabout feature access settings, such as information about the features,whether a specific user has access to the features, how long the userhas access to the features, limitations on the user's access to thefeatures, and so forth. The feature information may be stored in avariety of formats such as, for example, text, as database records,embedded codes within the system, and so forth. Furthermore, differentparts of the feature information may be stored in different locationsand in different formats.

III. The System

A. Multimedia Client-Server System

FIG. 2 illustrates one embodiment of a multimedia client-server system210 which includes a user computer 220 that communicates with a remoteserver system (“server”) 230 via a communications medium 240 enabling auser access to a multimedia client program 225. FIG. 2 also illustratesa sample flow of information between the user computer 220 and theserver 230. In event A, a user utilizes the user computer 220 to createan account with the server 230 and the user downloads the multimediaclient program 225 as shown as event B. In event C, the user selectsfeatures of the multimedia client program 225 that he or she would likeenabled and sends the information to the server 230. The user may selectfeatures explicitly, such as, for example, by marking checkboxesindicating the features the user would like enabled, or implicitly, suchas, for example, by signing up for a subscription or license packagethat includes a subset of the available features. In event D, the server230 sends to the user computer 220 feature access information thatdesignates the features to which the user has access. In event E, theuser runs the multimedia client program 225, and the multimedia clientprogram 225 dynamically determines which features should be enabled forthe user based on the feature access information. The multimedia clientprogram 225 does not have to contact the server each time the userattempts to access a feature. Periodically, the user computer 220 sendsthe feature access information to the server 230 to be updated as inevent F. The server 230 updates the feature access information andreturns the updated feature access information to the user computer 220as shown in event G.

In one embodiment, the multimedia client-server system 210 mayadvantageously enable dynamic determination of whether a user shouldhave access to features of the multimedia client program 225. Whenmaking dynamic determinations, the multimedia client-server system 210may then determine in real-time whether the user has access to afeature. Thus, if the user's access has expired or been renewed sincethe last time the user attempted to access the feature, the multimediaclient-server system 210 is able to more accurately determine useraccess.

In one embodiment, the multimedia client program 225 communicates withthe remote server 230 using the standard HyperText Markup Language(“HTML”) protocol. HTML is an authoring language used to createdocuments on the World Wide Web using a variety of tags and attributes.For more information on HTML, please refer to “HTML & XHTML: TheDefinitive Guide,” by Chuck Musciano and Bill Kenney, published byO'Reilly & Associates, which is hereby incorporated by reference in itsentirety.

It is recognized that the multimedia client-server system 210 mayinclude other servers, such as content servers and/or streaming servers,and/or the exemplary server 230 may also perform content serving tasks,such as, for example, streaming and downloading of data in addition toits user information management tasks.

In one embodiment, the multimedia client-server system 210 provides asystem for accessing multimedia content, such as, for example,downloading and/or streaming audio, graphic, and/or video data. Inaddition, the multimedia client-server system 210 may work inconjunction with a digital rights management system that providessecurity to protect the content data.

B. User Computer

FIG. 3 illustrates one embodiment of the user computer 220 illustratedin FIG. 2. The exemplary user computer 220 includes the multimediaclient program module 225 shown in FIG. 2 as well as a web browser 320and a cookie database 330.

As used herein, the word module, whether in upper or lower case letters,refers to logic embodied in hardware or firmware, or to a collection ofsoftware instructions, possibly having entry and exit points, written ina programming language, such as, for example, C++. A software module maybe compiled and linked into an executable program, or installed in adynamic link library, or may be written in an interpretive language suchas BASIC. It will be appreciated that software modules may be callablefrom other modules or from themselves, and/or may be invoked in responseto detected events or interrupts. Software instructions may be embeddedin firmware, such as an EPROM. It will be further appreciated thathardware modules may be comprised of connected logic units, such asgates and flip-flops, and/or may be comprised of programmable units,such as programmable gate arrays or processors. The modules describedherein are preferably implemented as software modules, but may berepresented in hardware or firmware.

1. Multimedia Client Program Module

The multimedia client program module (“multimedia client program”) 225may permit a user access to a variety of multimedia content. Themultimedia content may include, for example, audio data (e.g., analogaudio, MP3 files, WAV files, Compact Disks, radio stations, etc.), videodata (e.g., DVD, MPEG-4, etc.), image data (e.g., TIFF files, GIF files,REG files, etc.), web data (e.g., HTML pages, Java-based web pages,etc.), SMIL content data, streaming flash data, Video Compact Disc data,as well as other types of multimedia data. The multimedia content may bestored on the user computer 220 in a content database (not shown) and/orin a remote location, such as, for example, in a remote database or on astreaming server.

In one embodiment, the multimedia client program 225 includes an audioplayer, a video player, a digital music/video jukebox, and a built-inmedia browser (not shown). In addition, the multimedia client program225 provides users with access to a network of multimedia programmingsuch as radio stations, software games, information on current events,sports, entertainment, news, and so forth. The multimedia client program225 also includes a set of features that may be enabled or disabled.

The exemplary multimedia client program 225 includes a feature accessmodule 310 which manages access to the set of features of the multimediaclient program 225. As in the example discussed above, the multimediaclient program 225 may include features, such as, for example,Crossfade, Record Microphone/Line in, Print CD Jewel Case, Print MusicLibrary/Play lists, Manual Transcoding, Graphic Equalizer, VideoControls, Theater Mode, Toolbar Mode, Hi Bit Rate MP3 Encoding, and soforth. When the user attempts to turn on and/or access one of thefeatures, the feature access module 310 retrieves feature accessinformation stored in the cookie database 330, reviews the featureaccess information related to the selected feature, and dynamicallydetermines, from the feature access information, whether the user shouldhave access to the selected feature. This determination may be basedupon the information stored in the cookie, such as, for example, whetherthe feature is enabled, the expiration date of the feature with respectto the current date, and so forth. Furthermore, when the server 230updates the user's feature access information, the feature access module310 stores the information in the cookie database 330 and conductsanti-tampering procedures to help prevent the information from beingmodified by an unauthorized party.

The exemplary feature access module 310 also includes a create useraccount process 312, a set feature access process 314, and a validateuser access process 316. These processes are discussed in more detailbelow in the section entitled “Multimedia Client-Server SystemProcesses—User Computer Processes.”

2. Web Browser

The exemplary web browser 320 is a software program that permits a userto access various web servers, including content providers, through thecommunications medium 240. In one embodiment, the web browser 320 is theNetscape® Navigator developed by Netscape, Inc. or the Microsoft®Internet Explorer developed by Microsoft Corporation. One of ordinaryskill in the art will recognize, however, that numerous other types ofaccess software may also be used to implement the web browser 320, suchas, for example, other types of Internet browsers, customer networkbrowsers, two-way communications software, cable modem software,point-to-point software, and the like. Furthermore, in otherembodiments, the user computer 220 may include different components thatenable the user to access the servers 230.

3. Cookie Database

The exemplary cookie database 330 is a collection of cookie files storedon the user computer 220 including a cookie file of feature accessinformation 332. The cookie files contain small pieces of information,such as user name and preferences, which a server can store with a webbrowser or other program and later read back from that browser orprogram. This is useful for having the web browser 320 remember specificinformation from various pages. For example, when user downloads aprogram from a web site, the program name, type, and version may bestored in a cookie file associated with the web browser 320 so that theweb browser 320 knows information about the downloaded program and canprovide such information to remote servers. The feature accessinformation is discussed in more detail below.

In connection with the cookie database 330, there may be severalprocesses (not shown) such as ID generators, number generators,statistic generators, session generators, and temporary storage unitsthat work with the database. Furthermore, it is recognized that thedatabase may be implemented using a variety of different databases inaddition to or instead of the cookie database 330, such as relationaldatabases, flat file databases, and/or object-oriented databases.Moreover, it is recognized that in other embodiments, the database maybe implemented as two or more databases and may include other databases.In addition, the database may be implemented as other data structuresthat are well know in the art such as linked lists, stacks, binarytrees, and so forth.

4. System Information

In one embodiment, the user computer 220 enables the user to communicatewith the server 230 via the communications medium 240. The user computer220 may be a general purpose computer using one or more microprocessors,such as, for example, a Pentium processor, a Pentium II processor, aPentium Pro processor, a Pentium IV processor, an xx86 processor, an8051 processor, a MIPS processor, a Power PC processor, a SPARCprocessor, an Alpha processor, and so forth.

In one embodiment, the processor unit runs the Microsoft® Windows® XPoperating system and performs standard operating system functions. It isrecognized that other operating systems may be used, such as, forexample, Microsoft® Windows® 3.X, Microsoft® Windows 98, Microsoft®Windows® 2000, Microsoft® Windows® NT, Microsoft® Windows® CE,Microsoft® Windows® ME, Palm Pilot OS, Apple® MacOS®, Disk OperatingSystem (DOS), UNIX, IRIX, Solaris, SunOS, FreeBSD, Linux®, IBM® OS/2®operating systems, and so forth.

In one embodiment, the user computer 220 is equipped with conventionalnetwork connectivity, such as, for example, Ethernet (IEEE 802.3), TokenRing (IEEE 802.5), Fiber Distributed Datalink Interface (FDDI), orAsynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM). Further, the user computer 220 may beconfigured to support a variety of network protocols such as, forexample NFS v2/v3 over UDP/TCP, Microsoft® CIFS, HTTP 1.0, HTTP 1.1,DAFS, FTP, and so forth.

C. Server

FIG. 4 illustrates one embodiment of the server 230 illustrated in FIG.2. The exemplary server 230 includes a user account module 410, a rulesdatabase 420, a user database 430, and a web server 440.

1. User Account Module

The user account module 410 manages the user accounts on the server 230interacting with the rules database 420 and the user database 430. Theuser account module 410 creates user accounts and determines whether theaccount is valid (e.g., the user's credit card payment has cleared, theuser's feature access information is accurate, etc.).

The exemplary user account module 410 includes a create user accountprocess 412, an authenticate user process 414, and an update rulesprocess 416. These processes are discussed in more detail below in thesection entitled “Multimedia Client-Server System Processes—ServerProcesses.” The user account module may also include other processes(not shown) such as an update user account process which changes theexisting user account information.

2. Rules Database

The rules database 420 tracks and manages rules enabling feature accessbased upon criteria, such as, the user's current license model orsubscription package, the user's historical license or subscriptionmodel, current promotions, license or subscription programs, upcomingpromotions, as well as any other information that may be used to promotethe multimedia client program 225. For example, one rule may be that anyuser who signed up for the Gold Level subscription package may haveaccess to all features of the multimedia client program 225. Anotherrule may be that for two weeks after a new version release of themultimedia client program 225, all users who download the new versionrelease can have access to all features for fourteen (14) days. Anadditional rule may be that any user that downloaded over 100 MP3 filesin the past 30 days can have access to the High Bit Rate MP3 encodingfeature. It is recognized that these rules are meant as samples only andthat a variety of rules may be stored in the rules database 420.

The rules database 420 enables the server 230 to control and change therules as to whether users should be given access to particular featuresof the multimedia client program 225.

3. User Database

The user database 430 stores information about users of the multimediaclient program 225. This information, which may be referred to as a“user profile,” includes information such as, for example, the user'sfirst name, login/password, zip/postal code, gender, age, e-mailaddress, and payment information, as well as other user identificationinformation. In addition, the information may also include the featuresfor which the users has chosen to enable access as well as features thathave been automatically enabled for the user. The information may alsoinclude data on the license model or subscription package that the userhas purchased indicating what type of content the user may access (e.g.,specific artists, specific categories of contents, etc.), as well as theformat in which the user may access the content (e.g., streaming,download, etc.). It is recognized, however, that the user database 430may store a variety of user information.

In connection with the user database 430 and the rules database 420,there may be several processes (not shown) such as ID generators, numbergenerators, statistic generators, session generators, and temporarystorage units that work with the databases. Furthermore, it isrecognized that the databases may be implemented using a variety ofdifferent databases such as relational databases, flat file databases,and/or object-oriented databases. Moreover, while the databases depictedin FIG. 4 are comprised of two separate databases, it is recognized thatin other embodiments, the databases may be implemented as a singledatabase and/or one or both of the databases may include otherdatabases. In addition, one or both of the databases may be implementedas other data structures that are well know in the art such as linkedlists, stacks, binary trees, and so forth.

4. Web Server

In one embodiment, the server 230 includes a web server 440 used tocommunicate with the user computer 220 via the communications medium240. The web server 440 may interact with a database of web documents(not shown) that are sent to the web browser 320 on the user computer220. The web documents may include standard HTML documents as well asother types of documents and may be formatted to include and/ortransport cookie information. The web server 440 may process requestsfor the documents, review the documents, and send the documents to therequesting computer via the communications medium 240. In otherembodiments, the server 230 may include other components to enable theuser computer 220 to communicate with the server 230.

5. System Information

In one embodiment, the server 230 runs on a computer that enables theserver 230 to communicate with the user computers 220. The computer maybe a general purpose computer using one or more microprocessors, suchas, for example, a Pentium processor, a Pentium II processor, a PentiumPro processor, a Pentium IV processor, an xx86 processor, an 8051processor, a MIPS processor, a Power PC processor, a SPARC processor, anAlpha processor, and so forth.

In one embodiment, the processor unit runs the Microsoft® Windows 95operating system and performs standard operating system functions. It isrecognized that other operating systems may be used, such as, forexample, Microsoft® Windows® 3.X, Microsoft® Windows 98, Microsoft®Windows® 2000, Microsoft® Windows® NT, Microsoft® Windows® CE,Microsoft® Windows® ME, Palm Pilot OS, Apple® MacOS®, Disk OperatingSystem (DOS), UNIX, IRIX, Solaris, SunOS, FreeBSD, Linux®, IBM® OS/2®operating systems, and so forth.

In one embodiment, the computer is equipped with conventional networkconnectivity, such as, for example, Ethernet (IEEE 802.3), Token Ring(IEEE 802.5), Fiber Distributed Datalink Interface (FDDI), orAsynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM). Further, the computer may beconfigured to support a variety of network protocols such as, forexample NFS v2/v3 over UDP/TCP, Microsoft® CIFS, HTTP 1.0, HTTP. 1.1,DAFS, FTP, and so forth.

D. Communications Medium

Focusing now on the communications medium 240, the presently preferredcommunication medium 240 includes the Internet made up of routing hubsthat comprise domain name system (DNS) servers, as is well known in theart. DNS is a Transfer Control Protocol/Internet protocol (TCP/IP)service translates domain names to and from Internet Protocol (IP)addresses. The routing hubs connect to one or more other routing hubsvia high-speed communication links. One popular part of the Internet isthe World Wide Web which includes different computers which storeelectronic web documents via their web sites. The term “site” is notintended to imply a single geographic location, as a Web site or othernetwork site can, for example, include multiple geographicallydistributed computer systems that are appropriately linked together.Generally, the electronic web documents may display a variety of datasuch as, graphical images, audio, video, and so forth.

One of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that a wide range ofinteractive communications mediums may be employed in the presentinvention. For example, the communications medium 240 may includeinteractive television networks, telephone networks, wireless networks,wireline networks, cellular networks, wireless data transmissionsystems, two-way cable systems, customized computer networks,interactive kiosk networks, local area networks, wide area networks,satellite networks, intranet networks, broadband networks, basebandnetworks, and the like as well as any combination of the above.

IV. Multimedia Client-Server System Processes

As noted above, in some embodiments, the multimedia client-server system210 includes several user computer processes and server processes.

A. User Computer Processes

The user computer processes in FIG. 3 include the create user accountprocess 312, the set feature access process 314, and the verify useraccess process 316.

1. Creating a User Account

In one embodiment, the multimedia client program 225 includes a standardaccount creation process (“create user account process”) 312. The createuser account process 312 queries the user for a login name and passwordand may request other information, such as, for example, first name,middle name, last name, language, company name, country, postal code,title, and so forth. The create user account process 312 may utilize astandard HTML form web document to query the user and then use the HTML“POST” command to send the information to the server 230. By using thePOST command, the data is sent to the server in a set of body datarather than as part of the URL (as with a GET command). The create useraccount process 312 then receives an indication from the server 230 thatthe user's account was successfully created or that there was an errorsuch that the user's account was not created (e.g., password invalid,user name already exists, missing information, etc.).

If the account is successfully created, then the create user accountprocess 314 may present the user with a hyperlink to download themultimedia client program 225. When downloading the multimedia clientprogram 225, the user is typically prompted to select one of severallicense models or subscription packages to use the multimedia clientprogram 225. The license models or subscription packages are typicallyof varying degrees. For example, for free, the user may sign up for theBasic Level that gives the user access to few, if any, of the multimediaclient program features. For a medium fee, for example, $9.95 per month,the user may sign up for the Silver Level which gives the user accessesto some, but not all, of the multimedia client program features. For ahigher fee, for example, $19.95 per month, the user may sign up for theGold Level which gives the user access to all of the multimedia clientprogram features. It is recognized that the license models listed aboveare only sample models and that a variety of models may be used. Inaddition, in some cases the user may be given access to some or all ofthe features for a limited period of time for promotional reasons, suchas to entice the user to sign up for a more comprehensive license.

It is recognized that the create user account process 312 discussedabove may be implemented using other embodiments. For example, a varietyof information may be gathered from the user, and various protocols maybe used to send the information to the server.

2. Setting Feature Access

FIG. 5 illustrates one embodiment of a flow chart for setting featureaccess (“set feature access process”) 314. It is recognized that themultimedia client program 225 may include a variety of features and thatthe set feature access process 314 may be used to control access to asingle feature, a group of features, various groups of features, and soforth. In one embodiment, the set feature access process 314 isinitiated by the user when the user wants to initialize, update, orchange his or her access to features of the multimedia client program.

Beginning at a start state, the set feature access process 314 queriesthe user of the multimedia client program 225 for login information(block 510). The login information may include typical logininformation, such as, for example, a login identifier and acorresponding password. It is recognized that in this embodiment, theterm query includes presenting the user with a fill-in form via a webdocument that requests information and receiving the user's submittedinformation. It is recognized that in other embodiments, the user may bequeried using line prompts, voice prompts, and so forth.

Next, the set feature access process 314 authenticates the user's logininformation (block 520). In one embodiment, to authenticate the user'slogin information, the login information is sent to the server 230 viaan HTTP “POST” command to verify the user's account status. By using thePOST command, the data is sent to the server in a set of body datarather than as part of the URL (as with a GET command). A session ID oran error value is received from the server 230. If the user is not valid(e.g., an error value is received), then the set feature access process314 may send an error message to the user requesting that the userre-submit the login information (not shown) or proceed to an end statethereby terminating the set feature access process 314. User loginauthentication may fail, for example, if the password was invalid forthe login identifier, the user's account is inactive, and/or the loginidentifier does not exist in the database.

If the user is valid, then the set feature access process 314 queriesthe user for additional information (“user personalization information”)(block 530) such as, for example, language, country/region, zip orpostal code, gender, birth year, and so forth. In some embodiments, someof the additional information may be designated as required, such as,for example, the language, country/region, and zip or postal code, whileother information may be designated as optional, such as, for examplegender and birth year. The user personalization information may alsoinclude designation of topics that are of interest to the user, such as,for example, entertainment, sports, news, gardening, and/or music. Inother embodiments, the set feature access process 314 may not query theuser for personalization information and/or the create user accountprocess 312 may collect such information.

Next, the set feature access process 314 queries the user for aselection of features that the user wishes to enable (block 540). Forexample, the user may be presented with a list of features in a webdocument, and then the user may select a subset of the features bymarking a checkbox that corresponds to desired features. It isrecognized that in other embodiments, the user may have alreadyimplicitly selected which features are to be enabled by downloading themultimedia client program 225 and/or by purchasing a licensing model orsubscription package. The license model or subscription packagetypically includes access to a subset of the features of the multimediaclient program 225.

The set feature access process 314 then sends the user personalizationinformation and the selection information to the server 230 toauthenticate the user (block 550). One embodiment of a process forauthenticating a user is discussed below with respect to FIG. 7. The setfeature access process 314 may send the information using the HTML POSTcommand. Furthermore, in some embodiments, the set feature accessprocess 314 may also send other information to the server 230, such as,for example, connection speed, multimedia client program name,multimedia client program type, multimedia client program version, IPAddress, date, distributor code, OEM code, operating system buildnumber, player language, originator code, and so forth.

In one embodiment, the set feature access client process 314 mayvalidate the information before sending the information to the server230 (not shown). This validation may include, for example, determiningwhether the user already has an account such that the user may beoffered a different login path, such as, for example, to create anaccount or to confirm a existing account information.

Next, the set feature access process 314 receives feature accessinformation 332 from the server 230 (block 560). In one embodiment, thefeature access information 332 may be received by the multimedia clientprogram 225 using the standard cookie transport mechanism, though it isrecognized that a variety of transport protocols may be used, such as,for example, HTTP posts using the GET command, as well as any othersecure protocol that enables data to be sent and then received. In someembodiments, the set feature access process 314 may also receive otherinformation from the server 230, such as, for example, multimedia clientprogram cookies, registry setting information for country ID, the user'spreferred language, the user's zip/postal code, the user's encrypteduser name, as well as web browser cookies with information about themultimedia client, the user, and the user's preferences.

The set feature access process 314 then stores the features accessinformation 332 on the user computer 220 (block 570) as well as otherinformation received from the server 230 in block 560. In oneembodiment, the feature access information 332 and/or other informationmay be stored as cookie files in the cookie database that are accessedby the web browser 320 and the multimedia client program 225. It isrecognized, however, that the feature access information 332 and/orother information may be stored in other locations on the user computer220 that may be accessed by the multimedia client program 225, such as,for example, in a separate database, as a flat file, and so forth.

Proceeding to the next state, the set feature access process 314 mayinitiate anti-tampering procedures to protect the feature accessinformation 332 (block 580). The anti-tampering procedures may include,for example, recording the date/time the feature access information 332was last modified, encrypting the feature access information 332,computing the hash value of the feature access information 332 andstoring the anti-tampering information in a pre-determined location tobe used later to ensure that the feature access information 332 has notbeen modified. The set feature access process 314 then proceeds to anend state.

As noted above, various anti-tampering procedures may be used, such as,for example, computing the hash value of the feature access information332. To compute the hash value, the feature access information, which isof a variable length, is converted to a fixed-length output, typicallycalled a hash value. One sample hash function is an XOR of the input ora MOD of the input, though it is recognized that a variety of functionsmay be used. In addition, other anti-tampering procedures may be used,such as, for example, message authentication codes, symmetric encryptionalgorithms, asymmetric encryption algorithms, hybrid algorithms,anti-debugging mechanisms, code obfuscation, and so forth. For moreinformation on sample anti-tampering procedures, please refer to“Applied Cryptography” by Bruce Schneier, published by John Wiley &Sons, Inc. 1996, which is hereby incorporated by reference in itsentirety.

It is recognized that the set feature access process 314 illustrated inFIG. 5 depicts one embodiment of a set feature access process 314 andthat other embodiments may be used. For example, the set feature accessprocess 314 may store additional user information on the user computer220 after it is received in block 530. In addition, the information maybe stored in the user computer's cookie database 330 or in otherlocations, such as, for example, in a separate database, in a flat file,and so forth. Furthermore, a variety of anti-tampering procedures may beused, such as encryption.

3. Validate User Access

FIG. 6 illustrates one embodiment of a process for validating useraccess (“validate user access process”) 316. In one embodiment, thevalidate user access process 316 is initiated when a user attempts toaccess or enable one of the features of the multimedia client program225. In other embodiments, the validate user access process 316 may beinitiated on a periodic basis (e.g., once a day, once a week, etc.)and/or every time the user runs the multimedia client program 225.

Beginning at a start state, the validate user access process 316retrieves the anti-tampering data (block 610). The anti-tampering datamay include, for example, the date and time the feature accessinformation 332 was last modified, the hash of the feature accessinformation 332 using the machine ID, and so forth. The anti-tamperingdata may be stored in one or more predetermined locations on the usercomputer 220. For example, the anti-tampering data may be stored in aflat file, in an existing file created by the user computer's operatingsystem, and so forth.

The validate user access process 316 then retrieves the feature accessinformation 332 (block 620) from the cookie database 330 and computesthe anti-tampering data (block 630). For example, the validate useraccess process 316 may determine the date and time the feature accessinformation 332 was last modified and compute a hash of the featureaccess information 332 using the machine ID. The validate user accessinformation process 316 then determines whether the storedanti-tampering data is the same as the computed anti-tampering data(block 640).

If the information is different, indicating that the information mayhave been compromised, then the validate user access process 316invalidates the feature access information 332 (block 650), such assetting all of the features to be disabled or expired, and then contactsthe server 230 to authenticate the user (block 660). One embodiment ofauthenticating a user is discussed below with respect to FIG. 7. It isrecognized that the information may be compromised for a variety ofreasons such as, for example, if the information has been changed, ifthe executing computer is changed, if the system has indicated that theinformation is tainted (e.g., invalid credit card, login failure, creditcard expiration, etc.), and so forth.

If the information is the same, then the validate user access process316 determines whether the user should have access to the selectedfeature (block 670). For example, the validate user access process 316may look in the feature access information 332 to determine whether theselected feature is set as enabled and/or whether the expiration date ofthe selected feature has expired. If the user should have access to theselected feature, the validate user access process 316 enables thefeature (block 680) and proceeds to an end state. If not, then thevalidate user access process 316 sends the user an error message (block690) and may send the user information on how to gain access to thefeature, such as, for example, paying a fee of $2.95 per month.

It is recognized that FIG. 6 illustrates one embodiment of a validateuser access process 316 and that other embodiments may be used. In otherembodiments, the validate user access process 316 may also includepresenting the user with information if a feature is set to expirewithin a window of time, such as, for example, within ten days. Inaddition, the feature access information 332 may be stored using avariety of anti-tampering techniques. For example, in other embodiments,the feature access information 332 may be encrypted.

B. Server Processes

The server processes in FIG. 4 include the create user account process412, the authenticate user process 414, and the update rules process416.

1. Creating a User Account

The create user account process 412 receives user information from arequesting user computer 220. The information may include, for example,login name, password, first name, middle name, last name, language,company name, country, postal code, title, and forth. The create useraccount process 412 then verifies that the login name is unique and thatthe password is valid, and creates a record in the user database 430.The create user account process 412 may then send a message to therequesting user computer 220 that indicates whether the user account wassuccessfully created or whether there was an error such that the useraccount was not created, such as, for example, if the password isinvalid, the user name already exists, there is missing information, andso forth. In some embodiments, the create user account process 412 mayalso store payment information, such as, for example, credit cardnumber, billing address, and expiration date.

2. Authenticating a User

FIG. 7 illustrates one embodiment of a process for authenticating a user(“authenticate user process”) 414. In one embodiment, the authenticateuser process 414 is initiated when the server receives a request from amultimedia client program 225 that has determined that the featureaccess information 332 has been compromised, such as, for example, thefeature access information 332 has been modified or replaced by anunauthorized party. The authenticate user process 414 may also beinitiated by the multimedia client program 225 when the user's featureaccess information 332 expires. For example, the server may include inthe feature access information 332, a date at which the informationbecomes stale, thereby indicating that the multimedia client program 225should initiate the authenticate user process 414. Thus, in oneembodiment, the multimedia client program 225 checks to see if thefeature access information 332 is stale when the user runs themultimedia client program 225. In addition, the authenticate userprocess 414 may be initiated when the user accesses multimedia contentdata on the server 230, when the user accesses the server 230 to updateaccount information, and/or, on a periodic basis, such as, for example,once a day, once a week, once a month, and so forth. Furthermore, theauthenticate user process 414 may be initiated when the user accesses aweb site related to the server 230 such as, for example, to obtainmultimedia content, when the user downloads plug-ins to the multimediaclient program 225, when the user has not logged into the server 230 forX amount of time, where X is a predetermined value or set as the datewhen the user should login (“reauthentication date”), and so forth. Inone embodiment, for example, X may be 30 days or set to Apr. 15, 2002.

Beginning at a start state, the authenticate user process 414 proceedsto the next state and receives a request from the multimedia clientprogram 225 to authenticate a user (block 710). In some instances, theuser is required to “login” by submitting a login ID and a password. Forexample the user may be requested to “login” if the user has not loggedin for X amount of time, where X is a predetermined value or apredetermined date, such as, for example, 10 days, 30 days, 60 days,and/or a specific date. In other situations, the login information maybe sent from the user's multimedia cookie without action by the user,such as, for example, if the user's feature access information and/ormultimedia client program information has become stale. The authenticateuser process 414 then extracts the user's login identifier from therequest (block 720) and retrieves the user's account information fromthe user database 430 using the login identifier (block 730). Theauthenticate user process 414 then uses the rules database 420 and theuser's account information to determine which features, if any, that theuser should have access to (block 740). Next, the authenticate userprocess 414 creates a data structure with the user's feature accessinformation 312 (block 750) and sends the feature access information 332to the requesting multimedia client program 225 (block 760). In oneembodiment, the authenticate user process 414 sends the feature accessinformation 332 to the multimedia client program 225 as a cookie fileusing the standard cookie transport mechanism, though it is recognizedthat a variety of transport protocols may be used as discussed above.Furthermore, in other embodiments, the authenticate user process 414 mayuse other unique IDs to identify the user.

It is recognized that the authenticate user process 414 illustrated inFIG. 7 represents one embodiment of the authenticate user process 414and that other embodiments may be used. For example, other identifiersmay be used to identify the user, and a variety of data structures maybe used to store the feature access information. Furthermore, a varietyof feature access information may be created for the user.

3. Updating License Rules

The server 230 also includes a process for updating the rules (“updaterules process”) 416. The update rules process 416 receives new rules toadd to the rules database 420 and store, modify, and/or delete rules inthe rules database 420. The rules, as discussed above, may detail whichfeatures are to be enabled for particular groups of users, and/or theymay also identify the window of time for which the features should beenabled.

V. Sample Feature Access Information

FIG. 8 illustrates one embodiment of the feature access information 332illustrated in FIG. 3. The exemplary feature access information 332includes information about the multimedia client program 225, the user,feature access information, and content access information. The cookievalue for each feature is stored as:

Feature_Name=ON_OFF|Expire|Days_To_Warn

In the example feature cookie entry, Feature_Name is the name of thecookie feature. The ON_OFF value signifies whether the feature should beenabled or disabled. If the feature is to be enabled, the ON_OFF valueis 1; if the feature is to be disabled, the ON_OFF value is 0. TheExpire value signifies the expiration date, represented as YYYYMMDD,where YYYY is the year, MM is the month, and DD is the day. TheDays_To_Warn value signifies the number of days before the expirationdate in which the user should be warned that the feature is to expiresoon.

For example, the following is one sample feature cookie entry 810 inFIG. 8.

Feature_A=1|20020305|5

Thus, Feature A is enabled and set to expire on Mar. 5, 2002. Inaddition, the multimedia client program 225 will warn the user five (5)days before Feature A is going to expire.

The exemplary feature access information 332 is stored in the standardcookie format, though, as discussed above, it is recognized that thefeature access information 332 may be stored in a variety of formats andstored in a variety of locations. Furthermore, various types ofinformation may be included in the feature access information and/or theinformation may be represented in different forms. For example, theexpiration date may be represented in YYMMDD, where YY is the year, MMis the month, and DD is the day. In addition, dates/times may berepresented using epoch time, in which the value for Mar. 5, 2002 atnoon is represented as 1015329600. Epoch time is the basis of date andtime calculation on most computers and is represented as the amount oftime that has elapsed since 1 Jan. 1970 00:00:00. Epoch time is usuallyexpressed in seconds, but many browsers use milliseconds.

FIG. 8 also includes a set of multimedia client program information 820which may be used by the multimedia client program 225 to customize themultimedia client program interface 110 and/or to validate or initiateauthentication of the user. The sample multimedia client programinformation 820 includes: cookie version, encrypted email address, userid, subscription service name, subscription service status, subscriptionservice expiration date, content subscription item, content subscriptionexpiration date, language code, postal code, country code, the date thecookie becomes stale, the date the user should be reauthenticated, theuser's birth year, the user's gender, and the hash value of a portion ofthe multimedia client program information 820.

While one set of multimedia client program information 820 is shown inFIG. 8, it is recognized that a variety of multimedia client programinformation 820 may be used and/or different information may be stored.Further, while the exemplary multimedia client program information 820is stored in cookie format, it is recognized that other formats may beused to store the multimedia client program information 820.

V. Sample Operation

A sample operation of one embodiment of the systems and methods will nowbe described, though it is recognized that the sample operationillustrates only an example implementation of the systems and methodsand that other implementations may be used.

Company is offering for download an audio player with Feature A, FeatureB, and Feature C, such as, for example, Graphic Equalizer, VideoControls, and Theater Mode. Further, Company offers three subscriptionpackages.

Gold:

-   -   Unlimited streaming    -   150 downloads per month    -   Features A, B, and C    -   $20.00 per month

Silver:

-   -   100 streams    -   50 downloads per month    -   Features A and B    -   $10.00 per month

Bronze:

-   -   50 streams    -   15 downloads per month    -   Feature A    -   $5.00 per month

Users can sign-up for a subscription package, download the audio player,and utilize the program to listen to audio files.

User Chad has decided to sign up for the Silver package and logs on toCompany's web site. Chad creates a login/password, selects the Silverpackage, submits his credit card information, and downloads the audioplayer. Chad also submits additional information such as his preferencefor English, that he is a male, he is in the 25-30 age category, and helikes acoustic guitar music.

Company's server takes Chad's information, including his request for theSilver package, and creates a feature access cookie for user Chad whichenables Features A and B for thirty (30) days. Furthermore, becauseCompany is promoting its Gold package, the feature access cookie alsoenables Feature C for a trial period of five (5) days. The server sendsthe feature access cookie to Chad's computer.

When Chad uses the audio player, the audio player accesses the featureaccess cookie to determine that the feature access cookie is not stale,that user Chad has logged into the server within the last thirty (30)days, and that Chad has access to Features A, B, and C. After five days,however, Chad's access to Feature C expires, and when Chad attempts touse Feature C, the audio player checks his feature access cookie anddenies him access to Feature C.

Next, Chad decides to contact Company's web site to download an audiofile. Chad's feature access cookie is transmitted as part of the HTTPrequest to the web site. While Chad is in the process of downloading theaudio file, the server reads his feature access cookie to recognize theuser as Chad, looks up Chad's account information, determines thatFeatures A and B are to expire in ten (10) days and that Feature C hasexpired. Because Chad has paid for his subscription for the next monthand his last credit card charge was authorized, the server updates theexpiration date of Features A and B to expire in thirty (30) days.

In addition, Company is offering a new Feature D as a plug-in to theaudio player. The server queries Chad to see if he wants to download theplug-in for free. Chad accepts and downloads the plug-in. The serverthen adds to Chad's feature access cookie that Feature D is to beenabled for ten (10) days. The server then sends the updated featureaccess cookie to Chad's computer which stores the new feature accesscookie.

Chad's computer may then integrate the plug-in with his audio player andwhen Chad runs the audio player and accesses Feature D, the audio playerchecks his feature access cookie and gives Chad access to Feature D.

VI. Conclusion

While certain embodiments of the invention have been described, theseembodiments have been presented by way of example only, and are notintended to limit the scope of the present invention. Accordingly, thebreadth and scope of the present invention should be defined inaccordance with the following claims and their equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A client computer system capable of communicatingwith a remote server computer system via a network, the client computersystem comprising: computer-readable memory storing instructions thatare capable of being executed by the client computer system, theinstructions when executed by the client computer system resulting inthe client computer system being capable of requesting provision of atleast one subscription-based gaming service, the provision to be basedupon at least one subscription status that is associated, at least inpart, with a subscription that is capable of being established via atleast one user account that is capable of being created, at least inpart, using the client computer system; the at least onesubscription-based gaming service being associated with at least onegame capable of being provided, at least in part, via the network, tothe client computer system, the game being associated, at least in part,with at least one game application that is capable of being provided, atleast in part, via download to the client computer system; thesubscription being associated with a relatively higher subscriptionlevel relative to a relatively lower subscription level, the relativelyhigher subscription level being associated with relatively more featuresrelative to relatively fewer features associated with the relativelylower subscription level, the relatively higher subscription level beingassociated with a relatively higher subscription fee relative to arelatively lower subscription fee associated with the relatively lowersubscription level; wherein: the client computer system is capable, whenthe client computer system is in operation, of requesting provision,from the remote server computer system via the network, of at least onesubscription-based unlimited music streaming and audio file downloadservice to be provided to the client computer system for playing via atleast one downloadable media application; the client computer system iscapable, when the client computer system is in the operation, ofrequesting the provision of the at least one subscription-based gamingservice from the remote server computer system via the network; theclient computer system is capable of periodically updating user accesscontrol-related data stored at the client computer system based uponupdated user access control-related data to be periodically receivedfrom the remote server computer system via the network so as todynamically control user access to streaming media content that iscapable of being provided to the client computer system from the remoteserver computer system.
 2. The client computer system of claim 1,wherein: the relatively lower subscription fee is free.
 3. The clientcomputer system of claim 1, wherein: the network comprises an Ethernetprotocol network.
 4. The client computer system of claim 1, wherein: therelatively higher subscription level is a Gold subscription.
 5. Theclient computer system of claim 1, wherein: the client computer systemcomprises at least one processor to execute at least one MicrosoftWindows operating system.
 6. The client computer system of claim 1,wherein: the subscription is a trial subscription.
 7. At least onenon-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that whenexecuted by a client computer system result in the client computersystem performing operations comprising: requesting provision of atleast one subscription-based gaming service, the provision to be basedupon at least one subscription status that is associated, at least inpart, with a subscription that is capable of being established via atleast one user account that is capable of being created, at least inpart, using the client computer system; the at least onesubscription-based gaming service being associated with at least onegame capable of being provided, at least in part, via a network, to theclient computer system, the game being associated, at least in part,with a game application that is capable of being provided, at least inpart, via download to the client computer system; the subscription beingassociated with a relatively higher subscription level relative to arelatively lower subscription level, the relatively higher subscriptionlevel being associated with relatively more features relative torelatively fewer features associated with the relatively lowersubscription level, the relatively higher subscription level beingassociated with a relatively higher subscription fee relative to arelatively lower subscription fee associated with the relatively lowersubscription level; wherein: the client computer system is capable, whenthe client computer system is in operation, of requesting provision,from the remote server computer system via the network, of at least onesubscription-based unlimited music streaming and audio file downloadservice to be provided to the client computer system for playing via atleast one downloadable media application; the client computer system iscapable, when the client computer system is in the operation, ofrequesting the provision of the at least one subscription-based gamingservice from the remote server computer system via the network; theclient computer system is capable of periodically updating user accesscontrol-related data stored at the client computer system based uponupdated user access control-related data to be periodically receivedfrom the remote server computer system via the network so as todynamically control user access to streaming media content that iscapable of being provided to the client computer system from the remoteserver computer system.
 8. The at least one computer-readable medium ofclaim 7, wherein: the relatively lower subscription fee is free.
 9. Theat least one computer-readable medium of claim 7, wherein: the networkcomprises an Ethernet protocol network.
 10. The at least onecomputer-readable medium of claim 7, wherein: the relatively highersubscription level is a Gold subscription.
 11. The at least onecomputer-readable medium of claim 7, wherein: the client computer systemcomprises at least one processor to execute at least one MicrosoftWindows operating system.
 12. The at least one computer-readable mediumof claim 7, wherein: the subscription is a trial subscription.